The first American pope in history voted in several U.S. elections out of his home state of Illinois, according to records obtained by USA TODAY on Friday, including an absentee ballot cast in last year’s hotly contested presidential election.
Pope Leo XIV, a Chicago native, has cast ballots in seven separate elections since 2012, including three Republican primaries while living in Will County, a suburb just southwest of the Windy City. He did not vote in the 2020 presidential election or in the 2022 midterm elections.
Many are already speculating on the new pontiff’s political allegiances after taking the mantle as the spiritual leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics on Thursday to global fanfare.
Before being elected pope, for example, Leo XIV reposted a message on X, formerly known as Twitter, criticizing President Donald Trump and El Salvador President Nayib Bukele during their Oval Office meeting amid debate about a wrongfully deported man.
In February, he posted two opinion columns critical of Vice President JD Vance, a practicing Catholic, and the administration’s stance on immigration.
Many have latched onto the voting records as a sign of the new pontiff’s politics, but Illinois officials are quick to point out that Prairie State voters are not required to register as members of a political party.
“In Illinois, a declaration of party affiliation is not part of the voter registration process,” Matt Dietrich, spokesman for the Illinois State Board of Elections said in a statement.
The clerk’s office for Cook County, Illinois, where the pontiff lived previously, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This story will be updated.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pope Leo XIV’s voting history sparks speculation
